Shana Galliher's best friend, Lindsey, had a miserable childhood, abused by one of her mother's boyfriends. They were closer than sisters, so when Shana saw Lindsey online in a bondage video ad, she knew she had to do something to save her friend. What she did was engage Recovery, an agency specializing in finding lost things. The operative assigned to her case was Ranger, a large, compelling man whose sexuality she immediately felt. The plan was to get Shana into the private domain known as the SCARLET CAVERN, and apparently this compelling man known as Ranger was the only one who could get her in. She knew it would be dangerous--but that didn't stop Shana. She would do anything to protect Lindsey, to save her life.

Ranger immediately zoned in on Shana, as predator to prey. She engaged instincts and attitudes he thought he had left behind, knowing he would have to train her in the ways of B/d before she could make it into the SCARLET CAVERN--if her friend were held there against her will. Ranger knew everything there was to know about the SCARLET CAVERN; his father began it and he was raised there as its heir; so when Shana had fears of her friend's condition, he looked back on his own memories of a dead woman who had been held there against her will, and he knew they were legitimate. But he could not keep a clear head around Shana. She kicked in all of his old instincts. When he kidnapped her and took her away to an isolated camp for training--while she believed it was a simulation--he was in it for real.

In Ranger, Vonna Harper has created a man who knows how to play a woman's body like a fine instrument. His complete understanding, confidence and competence is so compelling; you feel the inevitability of Shana's submission. He torments her with her own sexuality, teaching her about her body things he knew and she did not; furthermore, his own anguished and loveless past makes Shana's selfless love for Lindsey shine like a beacon, makes the depth of her love irresistible to him. He finds he wants some of that selfless love for his own. When she begins to trust him, he finds he cannot keep his heart remote.

If we could offer 4 1/2, I would surely give it for this book. (Since management has changed here, you will find that half has been added!) The passion that Ranger feels and the chemistry between the hero and heroine--which is echoed so perfectly by their psychological compatibility--makes this story a very compelling read. Ranger is a compelling hero, (not a bad thing for a Dom), and when you begin this story, you will feel compelled to finish it at one sitting. It is a very passionate narrative, heavily erotic, whether in Shana's or Rangers point of view. It demonstrates some of the most gripping elements of the power exchange that is the basis of relationships that have the dynamic of Domination and submission.

Reviewed By: Maitresse
© Sept 2004